A fraudster pretends to be Jason Statham and forces a British woman to spend a lot of money

A scammer posing as Hollywood star Jason Statham to deceive a British "star-struck" man with hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The victim was the target of a scam through Facebook and WhatsApp, and prompted her to think that she was sending a message to the British star of The Transporter and The Fast and the Furious.

The fraudster impersonating Mr. Statham told him that he liked her and made her believe that he was experiencing financial problems, which resulted in a series of payments being made. raising to six figures.

The victim stated that she was going through a period of vulnerability after the death of her mother and her fiancé, and the police think that the sick criminal who made his prey was operating abroad.

The woman, who comes from northwestern England, told the BBC that she was a strong person but that she dropped her guard when she was not "at home. good place "because of the personal tragedies she had experienced.

She added that the scam started when she visited a Facebook page dedicated to Mr. Statham. Someone contacted her to pose as the actor.

The woman said, "I thought," Oh, it's nice of him to talk to his fans. "I might have been hit by the stars, I do not know."

The rogue then turned to WhatsApp encrypted to exchange hundreds of messages over several months.

During this time, the woman was thinking of establishing a relationship with Mr. Statham.

The fraudster told him that he liked it and claimed that a movie payment was delayed and asked him to help him solve his financial problems.

The woman believed her story and sent a series of payments totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds.

She refused to reveal the exact amount.

She added: "It was a substantial sum, which would have changed my life and that of my family."

After making several payments, she finally contacted the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to report the fraud.

The Economic Crime Unit opened an investigation but determined that the fraudster was operating abroad and was unable to prosecute anyone.

The ordeal of this woman emerged as police warned fraud that the fraud had reached the "epidemic level" in the UK.

Detective Craig Moylon, who was involved in the investigation, told the BBC that the GMP reportedly received about 1,000 victims of fraud per month, which probably represents only 5 to 10% of the actual number of victims.

He described it as "the crime of volume of the 21st century".